Invitations
by DarkShine07
Summary: He was the son of the Archadian emperor whom had ordered the attack against Dalmasca those years ago…but Vayne himself didn’t ask for all that, right? A pairing not seen often...


Ashe's breath was rushed as she darted through the bleak tunnels of the Garamsythe Waterway. A few disturbed creatures struck out at her but she hurried past passively. Behind her she could hear the faint sounds of steel tipped boots slamming against the slimy flooring of the waterway as they marched after her. Sighing in annoyance and weariness she glanced around quickly and spotted a small side passage where she could easily slip out of sight into. Her feet carried her gingerly across the flooring and she made a small leap and grasped the rounded edges of the cut in the wall and scooted inside. She quickly found that it wasn't a side passage at all, rather, it was a small hollowed out space that went two meters back and then abruptly stopped. She inched back as far as she could go until her back was pressed up against the coolness of the tiled wall behind her and then waited anxiously for the soldiers to pass. The clinking of the steel against tile was much closer now and Ashe could see the shadows of their figures moving across the floor. She took in a deep breath as silently as she could and held her breath as the soldiers started marching past. She had the worst feeling that if she let herself breathe one of them would surely hear her. Within a few moments the last of the soldiers had clinked away and all was silent, as if no one had been there at all.

Ashe quickly let her breath out, which was hardly any at all, and gasped in and out before steadying her respiration and waiting a few seconds for her lungs and heart to recuperate. Her eyes slowly opened and closed and a great feeling of relief overcame her. Slowly she crawled to the opening of the hollow and peered around the corners. Not one of the soldiers were in sight from either direction, but Ashe could just barely catch the sound of their tips hitting the floor as they ran on. She chuckled. They would be running through the whole Garamsythe Waterway over and over again trying to find her, but she'd be gone…to where she did not know yet, but she definitely wouldn't be here. She hopped out of the hollow and her feet steadied easily against the floor. She brushed off her clothing and smiled to herself in satisfaction. Nevertheless she knew she needed to exit the vicinity as soon as possible or face the consequences. Looking around and thinking back over how the waterway's layout was constructed she urgently decided to turn and go back towards the palace entrance, which was hopefully unguarded since her distraction seemed to have plenty soldiers occupied. Taking in a support breath she sprinted back to where she had left the palace. As she had hoped the entrance was unguarded and it was extremely simple for a change to just walk right on through and look around without a guard running up and ordering her to leave before recognizing who she was.

Up the stairs she went, thinking that it would be easiest to exit the palace through the main entrance because of the banquet in the main hall, which was on the opposite side of the palace. In the back of her mind she had the feeling that she was going the wrong way, but she went on despite her premonition in hopes that it was just her nerves. Two more fleets of stairs and then she was in a long corridor with a red and gold patterned carpet and drapes of a darker shade of red skimming the wall on the left, as the right was an overlooking of all the stairs. Ashe was surprised that she didn't recognize where she was yet, but the new consul had been ordering changes to the palace's furniture design. She sighed in frustration as she heard people coming towards her and quickly ran in the opposite direction and saw a door which she quickly opened and jumped through. She caught her breath and slowly turned her head, hearing the sound of voices. She realized she was in a utility closet…what would a utility closet be doing in this area of the palace? The wall opposite the door had a wooden panel that she flicked open and her eyes widened. She saw the head of the soldiers speaking, his hand slowly making gestures of apology. Someone must have used to listen in on important conversations through this closet because the person the guard was speaking to was Vayne Solidor himself.

"I apologize…sir…but our guards have lost her trail completely," The voice of the head of the guard was jumpy and scared.

"Exactly how and when did you lose her trail…it couldn't be that hard to track a rogue princess." Vayne's deep voice inquired.

"Well…her scent abruptly stops in the middle of a short hall way…we can not tell if she continued on aerially or if she simply teleported away."

Vayne nodded his head in mock understanding. "General you are officially excused…please leave."

The other man's eyes widened in shock but he quickly left before he had to face the full of Solidor's wrath.

Ashe intently watched as Vayne turned around and slowly began pacing, his hands held together behind his back and his eyes looking down in deep thought. She tried to make herself believe that he wouldn't just simply dismiss an officer for one mistake, one that really wasn't even his fault, that this man must have been causing more problems than just this. But the look upon his face disconfirmed her hopes. At a time when she should be feeling quite angered and spiteful towards the consul, she found herself studying him. The way his hair fell over his head in the bushy way that it did was awkward yet something that only one possessing a face with lines as Vayne's could make look good. His brown eyes seemed to be sincerely wondering about something, as if he was feeling a bit of guilt for dismissing someone so rashly. Almost as if he were handsome…Ashe shook her head quietly and reminded herself exactly who he was. He was the son of the Archadian emperor whom had ordered the attack against Dalmasca those years ago…but Vayne himself didn't ask for all that, right? She shouldn't look down upon him for what his father had begun. Why was she compromising with her conscious like such? In a quaint attempt to distract herself she looked back into the room only to find that Vayne had left. Taking the cue she turned around and reached for the doorknob to open the door, but just as her hand grasped the knob she felt it twist and the door opened.

"I thought that might be you."

Ashe's eyes did none to hide her pure shock at seeing Vayne right in front of her.

"Tell me…you did just easily slide into the hollow and wait for those incompetent dolts to march on by, didn't you?" Vayne asked, a smart smirk slacked upon his face.

Ashe blinked, recollecting herself and nodded. "It was quite obvious actually…you should really think about how you've been training those men before letting them guard a palace."

Vayne kept the smirk and nodded. "What I want to know now is why you thought that returning here of all places would help you escape. It would have been much better to just continue on…you would have run into those to thieves and they could have efficiently helped you out."

Ashe felt her jawbone starting to drop and quickly clenched her teeth together. "How do you know that?"

"Princess, my guards are quite the oaf, but be that as it may, they don't miss something as obvious as running right in front of them and then dashing away in the other direction."

"Well they sure missed it when I did it." Ashe retorted.

Vayne's smirk faded a bit so that it was more of a grin. "Yes but you…" he ran his hand through her hair, "are a skilled artist when it comes to hide and seek."

Trying to keep from relaxing into Vayne's touch, Ashe stiffened purposefully, unknowingly took the bait. "Of that were true you would not have been so keen as to find me as quickly as you did."

"Ah but you did have quite a disadvantage didn't you? Tripping over the broom like that…tisk, tisk." Vayne replied, offering another bit of bait out.

Ashe quickly thought back and realized that she had hit a broom with her ankle and it had tipped over to hit the wall before catching itself. "How could that have been enough for you to hear?"

Vayne chuckled, pulling his hand away from her hair and to his chin, "You see, Lady Ashe, you are not the only one with…skill."

Ashe was starting to become uncomfortable as the brown deceptive eyes gazed softly at her. Her mind told her she was being seduced but her heart argued that she was enjoying this quite so. When Vayne leaned in just a bit her heart won that battle.

"Apparently not…" She said quickly and then she found her own head leaning in. Her eyes flicked from Vayne's lips to his eyes quickly to see if there was a look of deceit or crudity, but to her surprise, he looked quite sincere. Perhaps this wasn't a seductive trial as her mind had suggested…

"Lord Solidor we've found-" Ashe quickly turned her head and Vayne rolled his eyes and sighed before turning to see a guard.

"You've found who? Hmm? Perhaps…oh I don't know…Ashe!?" He was quite annoyed now.

The guard's jaw was askew but he decided to just go on. "Um, yes, but I was going to tell you that we had found her trail leading up the stairs…"

Vayne sighed, "And do you think I might have noticed?"

"Yes…sir." The guard looked down.

Ashe prepared herself to withstand another guard being excused.

"Then, as you can see, I have everything under control."

The guard nodded apologetically.

"You can go now." Vayne hinted.

"But sir…don't you want me to seize her, or lock her up…or get the job over and done with and execute her?"

Even though she knew she shouldn't be surprised, Ashe let her heart get the best of her, "You're going to execute me?"

Vayne turned his head and looked at her. After a second he said, "Were…_They were _going to execute you."

"Well I don't see why you wouldn't do it now…" She retorted, practically asking for a death sentence.

"Would you rather me order you to death or keep you alive, Lady?" Vayne now seemed a tad bit amused.

The guard stepped back quietly, trying not to chuckle as he finally understood the scene before him, and silently left, knowing he was not needed.

Ashe couldn't help but let a smile come upon her face.

"That's the first time I've seen you smile, Princess. All the other times I have caught glimpses of you; you have been quite angry and flushed, or weary and sly. Never have you been happy…"

"Well…I didn't really have a good reason to smile then, did I?" Ashe pointed out.

"And you do now?"

"Well…I'm not going to be executed." In the back of her mind Ashe was beginning to think she should leave before things got out of hand, after all, whether or not beginning the war was Vayne's idea, he was still in it now and he was still for the Empire.

"Maybe I should go…"

"Go? You think I'm going to let you simply walk out of here and pretend I never even saw you?"

"Well I had been hoping for the best." Ashe said at a less confident tone.

Vayne smiled and took in a breath. "Tell you what. You can leave here right now and never come back and never tell anyone and anything and pretend that I never met you. Or, you can stay. You can stay and see exactly what my plans for Rabanastre and even all of Dalmasca are."

"Wait a minute…aren't you for the Empire and all? Why wouldn't I care to know your plans…"

"Ashe…my father is an aging, sickly man. He is going to pass on any day now…and when he does I'll gain all the power. I plan to end this invasion. Dalmasca will go back to how it used to be…and Archadia will back off, although we shall always remain an ally."

Ashe was amazed. "Are you serious?"

"Of course." And he really did mean it.

"Would you be doing this if you hadn't had caught me in the closet?"

"I have been planning this from day one…but now that you mention it…you could play an important role in convincing the Dalmascans that everything will go back to the way it was." Vayne replied, a smile playing.

"How's that?" Ashe wondered.

"Well a joining between the two of us could only reassure the people, right?"

Ashe pondered this for a moment, not grasping the entire concept. "I suppose after it had been a while since your father had died…after you'd introduced this idea to the public."

"Is that a yes?"

It suddenly hit Ashe. "Was that…a proposal?"

"It sounded like one to me…"

"Whoa…" Ashe was totally taken aback.

"So was that a yes or not?"

Her eyes met Vayne's, "I'm thinking that was a yes."

They both leaned in and shared their first kiss. Engaged before they even had had a kiss…isn't that something?

**A/N: Ta da…This was seriously just a random idea that changed at least fifteen different times while writing it. My friend is the one who suggested I wrote a VaynexAshe, and at first I didn't think I could pull it off…but this turned out okay in my opinion. Maybe it was a bit rushed…bit I for one think Vayne would be very straight forward about something like that. Reviews are loved. **


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